MUST READ- Stop overeating!

I really want to share this with the woman (and men) that have been great tools for me. I read this article and I felt that light come on, that AHA, you know what I mean? When you read something that just makes so much sense? Well, this is an article like that- that as of yet- has actively helped me stop over eating. Be aware. Read this article. Tell me if it helps- I hope it does!

I've always been fascinated by food psychology. What's scary is that I wanted to focus on it for my master's degree thesis, but I was too embarassed to because of my weight (afraid it would look like I was trying to make excuses for my size).

Becoming aware of what you're doing, every moment of the day, until the new behaviors replace the old ones in "auto-pilot" mode is the hardest part of changing habitual behavior of any kind. In some ways, I have to acknowledge that I may never have the luxury of "auto-piloting," through life.

Interesting article. I think it is correct that a lot of overeating is a result of not being aware of how much/ what you're consuming - just general shovelling action into the mouth! However, I think most of the women invited, if they were serious compulsive eaters (as I was) would engage in most of their behaviours in secret, so Bob doesn't know everything!

I agree that it would be very difficult to observe secretive behavior, but I think it's really interesting that the subjects weren't selected based on their food behaviors or weight. This is how easy it is to influence the "average" person's eating behavior. Are compulsive eaters more susceptible to these influences? Are some overweight people just unlucky enough to be in environments that have more eating cues?

I also hid most of my compulsive eating, but I did eat more in public in situations where it was "normal," to do so (even though I probably didn't
eat the way I secretly wanted to).

I remember in college, we would have Baskin Robbins "pig outs," where the girls on our dorm floor would actually rent the Baskin Robbins after closing for an "all-you-can-eat party. Talk about a free-for-all. The really strange thing is that I was amazed at how much some of the thin girls ate. I really did eat all I wanted and then some (in fact, my stomache hurt), and some of the thin girls ate a lot more than I did. In fact, the girl that ate the most, ate three times what I did (everyone was "counting" their scoops - and were strangely competing to "win").

I was embarrased (and sick) the next day, but at the time, it was as if the ordinary rules of eating in front of others had been reversed.

This article gave me some pointers to watch for with my eating. It also helped to see that I have developed some really good habits in the last month since I've been eating on-plan and exercising. We've stopped bringing junk into the house, so its not readily available, we use smaller plates for dinner. I was having a problem with eating too many nuts because the bags were on the counter in plain sight and I would 'graze' thoughtlessly. I put them in the top shelf of the cabinet and I no longer have any problem with the nuts.

__________________- Rhonda

"Live the life you've always imagined." Henry David Thoreau

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